Title: A Vigil in the Mourning
Series: Soulbound: Book Four
Author: Hailey Turner
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 368 Pages
Category: Urban Fantasy
At a Glance: Hailey Turner continues to construct awe inspiring urban fantasy, sprinkling the old myths generously on top of our reality and mixing it together in breathtaking ways.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: The devil you know is never the one you should trust.
Special Agent Patrick Collins is dispatched to Chicago, chasing a lead on the Morrígan’s staff for the joint task force. Needing a cover for his presence in the Windy City, Patrick is ordered to investigate a politician running for mayor. In the lead up to election day, not everything is what it seems in a city where playing to win means appeasing the gods first and the electorate second.
But Chicago brings its own set of problems outside the case: a stand-offish local god pack, a missing immortal, and Patrick’s twin sister. Fighting Hannah and the Dominion Sect provides Patrick with a sinister reminder that some blood ties can never be cut.
Left behind in New York City, Jonothon de Vere finds himself targeted by hunters who will go through anyone to kill him—including the packs under his protection. With a bounty on his head, Jono is forced to make a choice that Patrick would never approve of. Doing so risks breaking the trust he’s built with the man he loves, but not acting will give the rival New York City god pack leverage Jono can’t afford to give up.
When Patrick and Jono reunite in Chicago, Patrick must confront the fraying of a relationship he’s come to rely on for his own sanity. But fixing their personal problems will have to wait—because Niflheim is clawing at the shores of Lake Michigan and the dead are hungry.
Review: “Make sure you’re aim is true, Patrick. There is only ever one way this story ends.” – Brynhildr
It is entirely evident that Special Agent—and plaything of the gods—Patrick Collins, is fighting a battle in which he has no real control of the outcome. The objective is clear, the outcome is set, the enemy rages on…and more than a few gods and goddesses keep getting in his way and mucking things up. He is still at the mercy of the Norns and their general vagary, which delivers him to danger time and time again while sparing him the critical details.
To die would be an awfully big adventure. To live would be an awfully big adventure, to borrow from J.M. Barrie. It is the ultimate paradox, and Patrick seems poised on the knife’s edge of either at any given moment.
There is little that some humans won’t do in the name of greed and the amassing of power, up to and including making bargains with gods and demons and the Fae. Bargains that seem guaranteed to exact a steep price in the end. Some people, however, will merely attempt to steal what they want. Ethan Greene—leader of the Dominion Sect…and Patrick’s father—is one of them. Ethan covets absolute power, and it has corrupted him absolutely. He uses Patrick’s twin sister, Hannah, as a pawn in his bid for ascendency and immortality, and they are at play in a cruel and deadly game of win, lose, or draw, in which Chicago politics becomes a factor, and an unexpected architect of chaos enters into the fray.
Hailey Turner has consistently offered up all the magick, mayhem, disaster, and pandemonium that has made the Soulbound series nothing if not an awfully BIG adventure. As Patrick and Wade (whom I adore beyond words and reason) head to Chicago to investigate the calamity that is being visited upon the city, some unexpected allies and adversaries elevate the story to the next level. Tapping deeper into Norse mythology and presenting the wealth of characters found therein is not only impressive, but it offered up a wellspring of heroes and villains and beasts that added to the already robust roster of supernaturals and immortals introduced in the series thus far.
While much of A Vigil in the Mourning takes place in Chicago, there are still conflicts afoot in New York, and Jono stays behind as leader of his god pack to secure his borders and ensure the safety of those who seek his protection. He brokers deals with the Night Court, so it remains to be seen how the shifters and vampires will work together—especially with the bounty now on Jono’s head. There also remains the matter of the god riding his soul and how Fenrir will exert his own influence on the state of things. Jono dealing with pack business while Patrick is otherwise occupied offers up some opportunity for mistakes to be made on Jono’s part, and that causes issues when Patrick calls Jono to Chicago. Secrets are a bad thing to keep from a man who is already supremely cynical and has a difficult time trusting, but it encourages further growth in their relationship and that’s never a bad thing. They continue to be devoted and committed to each other and to their pack.
Ritual sacrifice, dark magick, dirty dealing, danger, suspense, and the near destruction of a Chicago landmark are just a few of the temptations in this novel. Hailey Turner continues to construct awe inspiring urban fantasy, sprinkling the old myths generously on top of our reality and mixing it together in breathtaking ways. This series remains in peak form, delivering something new and different with each installment.
You can buy A Vigil in the Mourning here:
[zilla_button url=”http://authl.it/B0852P8F13?d” style=”black” size=”large” type=”round” target=”_blank”] Amazon/Kindle Unlimited [/zilla_button]